Each Day
by Almi Melwen
Summary: James & Lily. One shot. James finds a girl in a coffee shop he thought he lost long ago. Songfic. Inspired by BBMak's Miss You More.


**Author's Note**: Just a one shot to pacify those waiting on the next installment of _Elusive_.

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**Chapter 1: **Each day

By Almicene Melwen

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She sat at a table close to the warm fire in the casual restaurant, whose patrons were mostly those just getting off from work. But not her.

The weather outside was dreadful – the icy wind nipping at anyone outside at the moment. A flurry of white was about the only thing one could see outside the window. But the redhead was ignorant of everything except the fire she stared into while drinking a cup of hot cider, unaware of how it burned her throat. She had no tears left to cry and all that was left was a bitter numbing feeling.

People scurried into the small coffee shop from the outside, and those who were leaving were reluctant to do so. Many left laughing with their husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, happy to face the blistering cold with someone by their side. But not her.

While they would go home celebrating the winter holidays, she would sit in the coffee shop for hours, just staring at the fire, drinking her cider.

He had noticed her the first time he had come into Beans, the little coffee shop on the corner he had never noticed until his co-worker had suggested it. Her hair had caught his attention as he sat in a side booth, catching up on his paperwork while drinking a steaming cup of black coffee. The fire reflected off her hair, tied up in a ponytail. He had thought it was a shame that she tied her hair up. And he had gone back to his paperwork, thinking nothing more of the redhead next to the fire.

But he was surprised when he got up to leave, expecting her to be gone. She was in the same spot, watching the fire an occasional tear slipping down her face. He paused, wondering how well she would take a stranger approaching her, asking her what was wrong. Probably not very well, he mused. As she wiped at her tears with the sleeves of her lovely crimson sweater, she looked up, catching him watching her.

She couldn't see him well from her spot, but he could see her so very green eyes from where he was standing. Bloody hell.

_There are so many reasons that I find to run to you_

_Cuz__ there's so little loving in my life, now I'm away_

_And thinking about it I want things back how they used to be_

_Cuz__ there is no way round it, nothing good comes easily_

_So much between us and we both know that it's wrong_

_So I keep on waiting till I'm back where I belong_

It was the girl he had chased so adamantly at Hogwarts, but had flatly refused every advance he made. He had changed his seventh year, and she had finally gone out with him. But oddly and much to the surprise of everyone at Hogwarts, it didn't work out between them. They had parted before graduation and he hadn't expected to see her again, much to his disappointment. She had left to help her parents, and he continued his life in the Wizarding world.

But here she was, teary-eyed, and more beautiful than ever, sitting by the flames he had always compared her to.

Before he could walk over to her, she had grabbed her things and rushed out of the coffee shop.

The owner looked up surprised, mumbling to himself. "The lass left early today."

James overheard his comment and asked a question of his own. "Does she come in here often?"

The burly man at the counter saw no harm in answering the question. "Yeah. Poor lass always comes in 'round five and leaves right at closin'. No family to go home to I 'spect."

James frowned, wondering what kind of trouble Lily had gotten into in the last couple of years since Hogwarts. He nodded at the man. "Have a good night."

"You too lad."

James walked out of the shop and into the freezing rain. He let the water soak into his clothes, not caring at the moment, more concerned about the girl that he once obsessed about.

_So here I am all by myself thinking of you nobody else_

_There is a feeling inside and as hard as I try it just won't go away_

_Are you finding it hard it all on your own_

_Having to face each night alone_

_Knowing that you are the one with the love that I need_

_And I miss you more each day_

James had come in a couple days after that to see if what the man had said was true. Sure enough, she was always there when he went there after work, dutifully watching the flickering flames. He had watched her for hours, coming into the warm coffee shop regularly just to see her, never approaching her. James found out that her parents had been killed recently, and that was the reason she never wanted to go home after work. She didn't want to be reminded of how alone she was in the world. The delightful smell of freshly roasted cider and coffee reached James's nose, but he ignored his sense of smell for another one of his senses, drinking in a different sight.

_So many feelings, emotions running away with me_

_Cus__ it's you I believe in and I love that run so deep_

_So much between us and we both know that it's wrong_

_Now I keep on waiting till I am back where I belong_

_Back where I belong_

He wanted to talk to her, and to hold her so badly, but he curbed his desires for her. She couldn't get involved with him. The promise ring on his finger reminded him of his pledge to another. But that didn't stop him from coming to Beans.

He didn't think it would be a problem to keep his distance, watching her from the corner booth.

But every time James set foot into that nearly invisible coffee shop, he was consumed with thoughts of the redhead, and how she had looked at him with her eyes, so hopeless and lost. And everyday he missed her more and counted the minutes until he could see her sitting by the fire.

But today was different. More than one thing had changed as James waited until the shopkeeper kicked everyone out, including the beautiful girl he had watched for the past few weeks. She no longer cried, but he hadn't stopped caring about her. He hadn't spoken a word to her since graduation but just seeing her every day made him more certain that she was the only one for him.

"I'm closin' up folks!" the owner bellowed. Lily gathered her things as usual, automatically walking to the door with the little bell above it, not noticing James close behind her.

She wrapped her arms around herself as the cold wind whipped around her small frame. She felt a heavy jacket draped on her and she turned around in surprise. Her eyes froze at the sight of the man standing before her with a small smile on his face.

"Hey Lily," he said after moments of silence, and trying to decide how to talk to the girl he had watched so frequently.

"J-James," she said, her eyes still wide with shock. The couple of years had done her well, but recent events had not. There were faint circles under her eyes, but nothing else gave away her fatigue.

"Let me walk you home," he said, his eyes searching hers, wondering if she felt anything for him.

"You don't have to do that," she insisted, about to take off his jacket and give it to him. She'd walked home alone for a while now and didn't need his help.

He put his hand on top of her and his jacket, forcing her to keep it on. "I know I don't. I want to."

Their shoes made crunching sounds as they walked across the freshly fallen snow. Lily walked uncomfortably next to James, slipping into the same thoughts she had since her parents were killed. It was almost picturesque as the two figures walked under a sky full of stars seen through patches of clouds and snowflakes falling in the winter weather. They passed by shops with wooden signs reading 'closed' festively decorated for the Christmas season. Twigs of holly were draped across the windows of other stores.

They had walked some distance in completely silence except for the light sounds of dropping snowflakes around them. James cleared his throat, breaking the stillness of the chilly night.

"You know I broke off my engagement just yesterday," he said quietly, studying her reaction as they passed through an alleyway.

Lily fumbled over her words, confused as to why he was telling her this. " . . . I'm sorry." She felt awkward discussing it, unsure how to respond. She didn't look at him and kicked a wayward stone with her shoe.

"I'm not."

She looked at him, noting how one hand went to ruffle his hair. She realized the sign immediately from when they had been dating. James was nervous or had something important to tell her. They continued on past a few more houses, each having its own charm. Every one of them was dark, indicating most people were asleep. Asleep . . . that's what she should have been instead of discussing James' engagement. Especially when she could have been the one he was engaged to.

"Why?" she said, scrunching her nose, trying to understand the man walking beside her. She temporarily forgot about the empty house she would be going to.

James gave her a half-smile. "I fell in love with someone else."

"Oh."

He looked up at the sky, sighing, wondering how his gamble would turn out. "And you know the crazy thing is that I never talked to her once during my engagement."

Lily didn't know what to say to that, but she was getting a funny feeling in her stomach.

James switched tactics, wanting to gauge her before she figured it out. "What about you Lily?" he said softly, as her heart warmed at the way he said her name. She had missed him every day since their break up. She never gave him the real reason why she had broken off their relationship. He didn't push her either, understanding that she needed space, and shoving his own feelings aside for her. "How have you been doing?"

That was a hard question too. What should she say? She didn't want to lie, but she didn't want to elaborate upon recent events. He seemed to sense her reluctance and asked her another question instead – one that caught her by surprise.

"Have you missed me?" His eyes looked at her tenderly, hoping that she had at least a little bit of romantic feelings for him from Hogwarts.

She wanted to laugh at the question. It was such a James thing to ask, always direct and to the point. But the look on his face told her that he wasn't kidding around. "I . . . uh . . . maybe," she said finally, swallowing hard. She looked away from him and noticed that they weren't any where near her house.

"James, we've gone the wrong way," Lily pointed out, trying to ignore how close his body was to hers, or the way he was studying her so intently.

"No we haven't," he replied, turning towards her, advancing.

Oh boy, she was in trouble now. She didn't like the look in his eyes as she stepped back. He took another step and she stepped backwards, only to run into a wall.

He grinned at how uncomfortable she was.

"James?" she said, apprehensively. Her voice dropped to a whisper as he put a hand next to her head on the wall. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing that you wouldn't want me to be doing," he said. His voice became hoarse with emotion. "I've missed you Lily. Every damn day that I had to watch you in that shop, wanting so much to hold you, but always wondering if you'd push me away again. Wondering if you'd let me . . . " His fingers tucked a stray strand of hair behind her hair as he leaned closer towards her. "Do this."

His lips captured hers softly at first, not wanting to force her. He got his answer when Lily wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back hungrily, demanding that he show her all the feelings she had missed. Tears fell from her eyes as she kissed him, causing James to pull away. He looked at her tenderly, his eyes sparkling with love for her. He wiped away the tears with his thumbs.

"Why are you crying?" he asked gently, wondering if he had gone too fast. He started to pull away from her when she hugged him closer, burying her head into his chest.

He had to lean closer to catch her next words. "I missed you James. So much."

"Hey, don't cry Lily." He tilted her head up to look into those wonderful green eyes again. He kissed the tip of her nose. "I'm here now. And you won't be able to get rid of me that easily again."

His heart beat faster as he thought about what he was going to do next. He kissed her again, pressing his lips to hers as she pressed closer to him. Taking her left hand he slipped a ring onto her fourth finger as she was caught up kissing him, taking in all the things about him she had missed.

As he broke the kiss, Lily dropped her hand, noticing that it was heavier. Glancing at it, she saw a beautiful platinum diamond ring winking up at her. Her eyes widened and she looked at James in surprise.

"So what do you say Lily?" He caressed her face, knowing that this was crazy. That hadn't talked to each other in years. He had just broken up with his ex-fiancée yesterday. James was nervous, knowing that it was all or nothing in these few moments. He nuzzled her cheek with his. "Be my wife?"

Lily blinked, feeling overwhelmed by the night's events, but not unhappily so. She knew it was crazy, but she had never stopped loving James. She saw how truly nervous he was as he nuzzled her cheek, and almost smiled. It wasn't often that James Potter was nervous.

Grinning at him, her sadness fading beneath the happiness James brought, she asked, "What about the woman you fell in love with?"

James scowled at her obvious attempts to annoy him. At least she hadn't said no, he thought. He held her against him, whispering into her ear. "She's about to get tickled soon if she doesn't answer my question."

Lily kissed him again, smiling against his lips. "Well in that case, yes," she murmured.

James whooped, spinning Lily around in a circle. HIS Lily, he thought. He couldn't stop smiling at her. "I love you Lily."

She smiled. "You know you didn't have to drag me all the way out in the middle of no where to ask me. Now I have to walk farther to get back home."

He grinned, pulling out a set of keys from his pocket. "I never said I was going to walk to your house. I meant mine." His face turned serious as his eyes locked onto hers. "Stay. I don't want you to be alone."

Lily laughed that wonderful laugh he had missed so much. He could have kissed her again, but he needed an answer so he held back. "Somehow I don't think that's the only reason."

Ignoring her teasing, James murmured in her ear as he lifted her from her feet, carrying her into his apartment, "I promise you'll never be alone again."


End file.
